According to the exclusive 39-page report, a paltry Sh125 million has been allocated to the NLC.
Running secretariat
Hakijamii executive director Odindo Opiata says their study reveals that the Sh125 million allocation only caters for salaries and allowances.
“The allocation caters for salaries and allowances for the chairman, deputy chairman and other NLC commissioners,” Opiata says.
Opiata, who is also an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya, says there are no allocations for administrative functions.
“Setting up of the NLC and starting its constitutional operations on land reforms may therefore drag,” Opiata warns.
Even with funds set aside for the Ministry of Lands, a review of audit reports by the Auditor General paints a gloomy picture.
According to the Auditor General, spending of budget allocations at the Ministry of Lands is bedevilled by many challenges.
For instance, it is alleged there is perpetual annual under-expenditure, under-collection of earmarked revenues as well as presentation of incorrect accounts for audit.
Others are inefficient management of grants to settlement funds trustees, unsupported expenditure, expenditure without vouchers and pending bills.
“Another fundamental problem is the lack of transparency in budget information from the lands sector,” says the report.
IBP’s senior technical liaison and research fellow Dr Jason Lakin, who was involved in the study, says some budget information from the ministry are unavailable to the public.
